Charity is for the Needy

i know it must be fashionable to curse and baulk at charities.


one of my friends proudly proclaimed, "i have never donated to any charity. i don't care what stunts they do, i refuse to donate to them."

sadly how one NKF has tainted all boats, justified all donation-refusals.

yes, I have donated to NKF before.
no, I have never regretted it.

it was a logical and rational donation. I didn't donate because the stunts were fabulous. I didn't donate because Durai came out and pleaded for funds. I didn't donate because I have excess money.

I donate simply because someone out there needs it.

Of course I was disenchanted when I learnt about the $600,000 pay.
Of course I was embittered when I learnt just 10% of the funds goes to current patients.

but that wasn't the fault of the needy.
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I made a decision to donate to Ren Chi hospital.

I watched the charity show last night, and as far as my memory can bring me, I have never seen the monk, Venerable Shi Ming Yi tear before for sympathy.
Throughout the past few years of charity, he has always plead for donations in a composed manner, never dropping a tear.

but yesterday was a despondent situation. the calls were trickling painfully slow, by the time it was time for Venerable's stunt, it barely crossed 100,000 calls.

And the weather was not helping. For safety reasons, he could only conducted part 1 of his stunts, part 2 had to be cancelled due to heavy rains and wind.

and then he made his calm plead for us not to taint all charities because of 1 incident.
not to withdraw donation because the needy still needs help.
and not to condemned the celebrities, the producers of the show (he revealed that the producers were condemned and scolded) just because.....

and then he broke down.
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about 90 minutes later, when they were closing the show, i can see the joy in his eyes when he learnt that the total amount raised was $6.8m. (their official target was $5m, but I do believe that they need at least $7m for annual operation costs)

the joy of a man not from huge bonus tied to funds raised.

the joy of a man that those under his care would not be left abandoned.

Yeh, for those who had enjoyed a good 2005, pls donate would ya?
1900-112-8888 ($5)
1900-112-8889 ($15)